Legend of the Mall
by PollyBunnyPeep
Summary: Sandi and Daria find themselves forced to be locked in a elevator after a blackout, what will happen when they have nothing else to do but talk to each other?


_Crap_, Daria thought as she ran inside one of the elevators in the Mall of the Millennium, _I promised Jane I'd be here fifteen minutes ago_.

When she reacted after barely reaching the elevator before the doors closed, Daria noticed who was next to her. It was Sandi Griffin.

The two girls looked at each other for a moment.

_Great, from all the people who come to this place I had to end up in this elevator with Sandi Griffin_, Daria complained in silence.

_It's that girl that lives with Quinn,_ Sandi, repulsed, thought, _I can't believe she comes to the mall wearing those clothes_.

Sandi and Daria tried to moved subtly away from each other, not even wanting to recognize the existence of the other inside that limited space. The experience wasn't pleasant for any of them but, they thought, at least it would not last long. Sandi started to use the time to plan in her head the words she would use later when she arrived Fancy Pretty Nail to make Quinn get her nails painted with an ugly color, convincing her that it had become a trend the day before but it looked good only on people with fingers like Quinn's.

_Fat, ugly fingers like hers_, Sandi smirked.

Meanwhile, Daria regretted accepting going to see that horror movie with Jane in the Megamultiplex Theaters. The Megamultiplex Theaters were in that huge mall, and such a big space with so many places to spend money at meant a lot of people, too many for Daria's taste. Unfortunately, Jane had been quite decided to go see that movie that Daria knew nothing about. She had heard "murderer" and "blood" on the phone but hadn't payed much attention after she had heard that the violent movie required going to the Mall of the Millennium. Jane's promises of bloody, explicit violence on-screen had convinced her, but if she had known she would have to spend time with Sandi in a space that she considered confined when it came to be with the enemy, she probably would had declined the offer.

Suddenly, the girls' thoughts were interrupted when the elevator stopped and the lights went out. Everything was dark. Daria and Sandi felt worried but neither of them said a word.

"Attention, visitors of the Mall of the Millennium" a voice said after a complete minute of darkness ", due to some technical difficulties the electricity of the mall is being affected. We are working to fix these problems as soon as possible. It is not a major damage, so it should be fixed within an hour. The elevators will be out order until we fix the problem. Anyone who is in the elevator will have to stay there until the electricity goes back to normal. We apologize for the inconvenience and as always thank you for visiting us!".

"Oh my god!" Sandi screamed, visibly upset ". I'm going to die in an elevator, and with a brain!".

"I think you don't need to worry about that. We'll be here for less than an hour and I believe this elevators are designed to be safe during events like these" Daria tried to reassure her, hoping it would make her shut up.

"Are you sure?" Sandi asked.

"Yes. It shouldn't take them long if it isn't a complicated problem. You may want to sit down anyway, from what they said it sounds like it'll take at least half an hour" Daria suggested.

"Uh, no thanks. People stand in there and I bought these clothes a week ago, I don't want them to get dirty".

Daria shrugged and sat on the floor with her back against the wall.

_Jane, I'm going to kill you if I have to spend more time with Sandi in this elevator than what my sanity can tolerate_, Daria thought.

After the first five minutes, Sandi finally spoke.

"Uh, Quinn's cousin or whatever?" Sandi called.

_Oh, boy, this is an act of desperation we'll both regret, isn't it?_, Daria thought anticipating the conversation she was about to have with Sandi.

"Yes, Sandi?" Daria replied.

"Aren't you bored in here? I mean, I know you never do anything fun and all you do is geeky stuff but it's kind of like too dark and too quiet".

"I can't say I'm amused, but I guess I can stand being trapped in here. It's not such a long time, so I don't mind".

"My beauty is being wasted in the dark" Sandi complained ". What are you doing here anyway? I thought people like you never went to places like this".

"Yes, we normally use the stairs or escalators but unfortunately I chose the elevator today".

"I don't mean the elevator" Sandi sighed ". I mean the mall".

"Oh, well, it wasn't really my choice, except that it was. I came to the Megamultiplex Theaters".

"I guess you came with that artsy girl you're friends with".

"Yeah, with her. I suppose you came here with Quinn".

"And the rest of the Fashion Club, we're getting our nails done".

The girls remained silence, an awkward silence, not sure about what else to say. The conversation, Daria thought, had been more awkward than the silence. Why should they talk? Daria though again, just because of Sandi's need for attention? They were not the kind of people who could have a casual conversation without feeling weird. Not even the situation, as boring as it was, seemed to be enough of a motivation for Daria to want to speak to her little sister's friend.

Sandi could stand three minutes the second time until he had to talk again.

"So... how long have we been here?" Sandi nervously asked.

Daria checked her watch. With the lack of light, she could barely see it but it had been eight minutes since the elevator had stopped.

"We have at least twenty more minutes left before they fix the electricity".

"Oh. Well, do... uh, do you know anything about fashion?" Sandi hesitated.

If it wasn't because of the darkness, the look on Daria's face would had been enough to answer Sandi's question with a clear negative answer. Even with the answer being obvious not only by her face but by every other aspect of her personality that Sandi knew about, Daria forced by Sandi's apparent efforts to start a conversation to answer with her voice.

"No, I don't".

"I thought so. What kind of stuff do people like you like?".

"Nothing that would really interest you".

"I'm still open to listen. It's boring in here".

Daria sighed.

"I like to read" the answer came out mechanically out of Daria's mouth.

"Like, magazines and stuff?".

"No, I like to read books".

"Quinn mentioned it a few times by accident".

"I wouldn't have thought of Quinn mentioning me even by accident. That would break the rules of our distant cousins relationship".

"So you're not her sister?" Sandi inquired with interest.

"As I said, the rules between Quinn and I don't allow me to answer that. But why are we talking about me?".

"I don't know" Sandi confessed, confused about how she hadn't really talked about herself during their ten minutes in the elevator.

Sandi thought about something else to say, this time after two minutes of silence that Daria hadn't enjoyed, thinking when would Sandi attempt to talk to her again.

_And I was so sure that people like me had the ability to avoid people like her completely_, Daria thought.

"Do you really like those clothes?".

"I guess so" Daria said ". I've heard Quinn saying that before followed by a makeover attempt, so if that's what you're trying I should remind you that we're in a dark, closed elevator, with no possibility of going to any store or well illuminated bathroom with a big mirror for the next twenty minutes" she discouraged Sandi.

"Quinn told me she already tried to give you a makeover multiple times but you won't let her so I don't want to waste my time and beauty products on someone who will not appreciate them".

"Thank you".

Surprisingly, for both Daria and Sandi, the conversation, while not being specially stimulating for any of them, didn't feel so weird at that point. Sandi was a little confused because although Daria couldn't really share any of her interests or she any of Daria's, Quinn's sister didn't seem so bad after all. Sure, she was a brain and a walking crime against fashion, but she couldn't be bad enough for Quinn to deny she was her sister.

Daria didn't see any interest in Sandi: with or without the lights on she was still just as dumb and shallow as always. There was, however, one thing she had noticed that seemed different. Sandi was normally colder, much more egocentric than she sounded while she was talking to her. Sandi wasn't talking about herself or treating Daria as someone inferior. Was it dark enough for Sandi to forget her looks to the point she would stop having such a big ego?

"Sandi, I have a question for you" Sandi nodded when she heard Daria, ignoring that Daria couldn't see her ". Why are you talking to me?".

Sandi doubted because she wasn't sure herself.

"Nothing in particular. There is just nothing else to do... For how long have we been here?" Sandi asked exasperated.

_I didn't know shallow people started to lose their mind in dark, confined spaces faster than other people_, Daria rolled her eyes.

"If you keep asking me every five minutes it'll feel longer than it really is. Just calm down, you can soon go back to your normal life".

"Yeah... I can't wait for that to happen".

_Was that sarcasm?_, Daria thought, surprised that she, proclaimed by Jane as the queen of sarcasm, was asking that to herself. _I am going to regret this_.

"Are you okay, Sandi?".

"Sure, I am extremely excited about going back to be like Quinn, Tiffany and Stacey like every day".

Daria hadn't been so confused in a while.

"It's not something so great, you know? It's boring. We do the same everyday, we do the same things and say the same things. Gee, we're all the same except for our clothes. I don't even understand how does Quinn go on with her life not thinking how shallow and ridiculous this is".

Daria, with widely open eyes and dropped jaw, tried to understand what Sandi had told her

"What do you mean?".

"I mean" Sandi started to explain ", you know what I mean. You're a brain and you know how to do more interesting stuff than what I do. I don't like being around people like you because it reminds me of things like this".

Daria opened her mouth but before the words could come out sudden white lights blinded her and the movement of the elevator distracted her.

"Attention, visitors of the Mall of the Millennium, we are glad to inform you that the technical difficulties have been solved. Thank you for your patience and we apologize once again for the incident".

The doors opened after the elevator stopped in the fifth floor. Sandi sighed, quickly fixed her hair and left the elevator.

"Uh, thanks and goodbye" she whispered as she walked away.

Daria, bewildered and unable to understand what the hell had just happened got slowly up from the floor. The doors started the close again but a hand stopped them.

"Hey, I didn't think I'd find you here" Jane said ". I was going to go look for you around here. I saw Sandi coming out, so I guess I'll have to apologize for the psychological damage she's probably done during those fifteen minutes you had to stay locked in here with Sandi by buying you some pizza. Do you still wanna go see that movie or was the blackout enough excitement for today?".

Daria didn't reply for a moment, but then she went back to herself.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I still want that pizza. And I already made it all the way here so let's go watch that movie, we can go for pizza when it's over".

Jane smiled, excited about the movie. As the girls walked towards the Megamultiplex Theaters, Daria turned around. Among the people walking from one store to the other, she could still see Sandi walking away. Intrigued and amazed, Daria wondered about many things.

_Maybe, after all, talking to Sandi isn't so bad_.


End file.
